This invention relates to therapeutic beds and more particularly to hospital beds for use by immobilized patients. In particular the invention relates to hospital beds for use by patients who are partially or fully paralyzed, suffering from head injuries, having multiple sclerosis, fractured spines or similar serious injury, to render the patient temporarily or permanently immobile.
The use of oscillating hospital beds is known in the prior art. A pioneer invention in this field is U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,165 issued to F. X. Keane. The Keane bed has been made in regular sizes which are not always suitable for very small patients and for children's or pediatric units.
An object of the present invention is to provide a children's or pediatric oscillating hospital bed using the same principles of U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,165 and suitable for use for smaller or pediatric patients. It is a further object of the invention to provide a pediatric oscillating hospital bed which can be used in conjunction with conventional treatment methods and apparatus for pediatric patients and which can be used in conventional pediatric intensive care units and with smaller patients. It is a further object of the invention to provide a cantilevered oscillating hospital bed having a removable patient supporting portion for ease of access and transport of a patient on the oscillating hospital bed.
Another oscillating hospital bed is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,550 issued to James R. Leininger et al and which is commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application. Another example of an oscillating hospital bed is copending application Ser. No. 226,118 filed Jan. 19, 1981, which has the same inventor as this application and is also commonly assigned. U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,165, U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,550 and application Ser. No. 226,118 filed Jan. 19, 1981, are incorporated herein by specific reference for all purposes.